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Sunday, November 2, 2014

William Scott: A Birth Story

Finally after 4 whole months (has it really been that long?) I am getting around to sharing Will's birth story.

Early morning on Sunday June 29th, Scott and I bustled around the house trying to get ready to head to the hospital for my scheduled induction. My parents had come in the night before and we had stayed up way too late talking to them. I only got about 5 hours of sleep since I was so excited about this little mans arrival. It was kind of a night before Christmas sort of feeling, except your present is going to change the rest of your life. Very cool.

We left my parents and Ava at home and got to the hospital about 7 am. I walked into the room and it was all set up with all the familiar equipment as last time. I started to get butterflies in my stomach knowing that I was going to be going into labor in this very room on this very day. That is a lot to process even if you have done it a million times. Labor is such a comforting feeling of being all the same, but at the same time scary cause it might be completely different. Ava was a 10 hour labor, my epidural wore off, I passed out, and pushed for 2 hours, so I was kind of hoping for a more uneventful/less drawn out labor. The nurse started me on pitocin and I just laid back and got comfortable for a few hours. At about 9 they gave me my epidural and man did it hurt WAY more than last time! I had to sit indian style on the side of the bed while he put it in my back and I felt it all. Luckily though this "type" of epidural he said allowed me to be as numb as possible but still have mobility in my legs, which I was grateful for. (This was a huge problem last time as I was so numb that my legs would slip off the bed and I had to get help lifting them back up.) Around 10am my doctor came in to break my water and my parents decided to bring Ava over to the hospital so she could see me and kind of get an idea what was going on.

My dad went out into the hall with Scott and Ava and I sat and just chatted with my mom and sister Taylor, putting on some makeup in the meantime. My nurse came in to check my dilation and said "Oh nice! You're at a 5 already! I'm gonna go get some stuff done, but just let me know if you start feeling an pressure at all." and she left the room. Ok, 5, I have some time I thought. Not even 5 minutes had passed since the nurse left the room that I started feeling what I thought was pressure. It was really hard to tell though since I was so numb. I stopped talking to my mom all the sudden and just tried to feel what was happening. My mom asked if everything was ok, and when I told her I thought I was feeling pressure, so told me she would go grab the nurse. Not wanting to send a false alarm I told her I was probably peeing or something and didn't know it. I continued talking to my mom and another 5 minutes passes and I am totally sure I am feeling pressure and it stops me mid-sentance. This time my mom finds the nurse who comes in to check me. "Wow! You're at a 10! It's baby time! Let me grab the doctor!"

5 to 10 in 10 minutes? I was floored how quickly this was going! I mean after all, my parents were just "stopping by to visit" and here they were going to all be here for the birth! I yelled for someone to go find Scott and the doctor came in and he asked me to slowly start pushing on his count. Dr Young was such a fabulous doctor. I felt like I could completely trust him and he was going to do everything he could to make sure I had a pleasant birth experience. Pushing was not so difficult this time, I felt much more in control of my body than with Ava and with the nurse cheering me on, I knew that it wouldn't be long. I pushed for a total of 15 minutes, not even breaking a sweat, and on my last push, the doctor asked me to stop as the baby was sliding right out.

And all the sudden he was here! The moment I had been waiting for for 9 months, he was here. He was 7 pounds 4 oz and was 19 inches long. The doctor lifted him up and he started peeing everywhere! They laid him on my stomach and started to rub him with towels. That is when I realized that he wasn't crying. "Why isn't he crying?" I kept asking over and over. He didn't make a sound, not a single peep, and I knew that was never a good sign. My nurse Tori kept telling me that he was probably fine, just really tired. They took him from my chest after Scott cut the cord and took him to the baby station. My mom and sister headed over there and I could hear all of them talking about why the baby wasn't crying. I started to get pretty panicky when I asked again and she just said "He will be fine". No one was giving me a straight answer, but I could sense the tension in the room between the nurse and doctor. The nurse continued to rub him vigorously and still no noise even with his eyes wide open. He just laid there and stared into nowhere. At one point Scott actually asked the nurse if he was alive. A few other nurses joined the room to talk while the let me hold him, and it was one of the most wonderful moments of my life. William, named after my maiden name Williams, was beautiful. He was everything I pictured him to be, and he looked a lot like his big sister except with big pouty lips like we saw in his ultrasound. At that moment I felt totally complete. I had my husband, my daughter, and now this gorgeous boy, and I felt so blessed.

Eventually my nurse came over and told me that she was very sorry as she knew how much I wanted to spend one on one time with the baby right after birth, but William was having some respiratory problems and they needed to take him down to the nursery for close monitoring and he would probably be gone for about half the day. My heart was totally broken cause mom and baby time was not something I got a chance to have with Ava, and it was very hard on me. This time I wanted it to be different. I cried watching him go, but I had an overwhelming feeling that God was watching over my baby and everything would be ok.

By the time my epidural wore off and I was in my room with my family, not even an hour after Will was taken away, he was wheeled back into my room. It was incredible! What was supposed to be half a day, turned into only an hour! They told us that after labor Will was having labored patterns in his breathing, where he would take long pauses and hold his breath. They thought this could be a sign of immaturity in his lungs so that is why he needed to be monitored, but as soon as he got down to the NICU he was breathing completely fine and did so for the rest of the hour. I knew that Heavenly Father heard my prayers for my little boy and personally blessed him.

Ava meeting Will was by far the most touching thing I had ever seen. he was super alert and every time she said something to him, he would turn his head toward her, like he knew her sound. There is really nothing in the world like your children meeting for the first time. All that wait, all the heartburn, all the sleepless nights, leg cramps, weight gain, and worry was all over in a minute and completely melted away with the view of your baby in the arms of your other baby. This birth was so special to me just like Ava, and a moment I wish I could relive for the rest of my life. We are so grateful for our happy and healthy little man.

Also huge thank you to my little sister Taylor for taking all the photos of the birth :)